


Snakes! in a bookshop

by LadyMaeve1978



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:53:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26342173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMaeve1978/pseuds/LadyMaeve1978
Summary: Snakes in a bookshop....that's it....
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to Snek-tember.  
> My long stories are not going anywhere right now...been way too busy to work on their outlines.  
> I thought I'd try my hand at a one-off and see if it calms the voices in my head, crying to be let out.

It was a sleepy afternoon in the bookshop, after Nope-aggeddon. 

Although Aziraphale had turned the sign to "Open" against his better judgement (although, as someone had pointed out, it was hard to be called a book SHOP if it was never open for business), he has not seen any customers all afternoon. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and humans were out and about, enjoying a rare clear fall day. The cold rains of fall would be here soon enough to drive everyone indoors for the rest of the year. 

Not even a wily fiend has slithered in, with a flash of golden eyes and a fanged smirk, offering London on a platter for Aziraphale's whims.

With a sigh, Aziraphale turned away from the window and walked deeper into his shop. Although not as old as his beloved (like he would ever admit that aloud...there would be no living with that serpent if those words ever escaped his lips), his books and scrolls were his next oldest friends. Deep in his heart, he blessed the day that Eve was tempted in the Garden...otherwise, none of this would exist. He drifted his fingertips past the titles as he walked down the bookcases, remembering how he acquired each and every title. With a huff of amusement, he realized most of the first editions, in this row at least, came from his demon. For someone who supposedly hated to read, he had a discerning eye for literature.

Today, however, none of the titles spoke to him and begged to be brought down....to be caressed and pampered like a lover (slender fingers around a wine stem, golden eyes over smoked glasses). Mentally, Aziraphale slammed down hard on that train of thought before it could lead him places that were forbidden.

He wandered into the kitchen and began perusing the cabinets and the fridge, but nothing there held any appeal. Tea...no.....wine....no...cake....no....

With a sigh, he left the kitchen. There was no point of eating if he couldn't enjoy his other pass time of watching Crowley watch him eat. Aziraphale smirked at the recent memory of their dinner at the Ritz. As Aziraphale was slowly licking the remains of the creme brule off of the spoon and moaning softly, Crowley's glasses had slid down to the tip of his nose, leaving his golden eyes exposed, the pupils dilated. He had leaned over so far that his tie was nearly in the pie he had ordered but abandoned while watching Aziraphale's show. 

He wandered back into the bookshop proper and watched the beams of sunlight across the floor, the dust motes dancing gently.

He pictured Crowley laying there, in all of his snake glory, black and red scales basking in the sunlight. Pure contentment. 

Aziraphale paused, an idea flickering to life and quickly taking form. What if? Could he? He has changed his corporation in the past to fulfill various assignments from Heaven...how hard would it be to change it a bit further? He thought about calling Crowley, asking for some pointers, but then quickly decided against it. How would he explain it to him? Could he even explain it to him without his demon laughing at him? 

Before he could second guess himself, he flipped the sign over to "Closed" and locked the doors. He thought, briefly, about locking the wards against Crowley as well, but if he came in during this experiment, then it would be Her will. After 6,000 years of denying Crowley, he would never do so ever again...not even for a potentially embarrassing situation. 

He took off his shoes and his jacket and waistcoat, leaving himself in a button up shirt, slacks and socks. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to his jacket after so many years of keeping it clean (he didn't remind himself of the satanic nuns and Crowley's pursed lips as he blew away the paintball stain).

"Okay, now it's time to focus." Aziraphale reprimanded himself out loud as he stood at the edge of one of the sunbeams. He breathed in and out and tried to empty his mind of everything (long red flowing hair, golden eyes, oysters). He began to let himself change and he dropped down on his hands and knees. His fingers grew into claws and brown fur began sprouting. 

"NO! NO! Not Aardvark!" Aziarphale stopped the transformation mid way and thanked Her again that he didn't ask Crowley for help.  
He would have never heard the end of this. 

"Focus!" he grunted and cleared his mind again, this time focusing on Crowley's snake form. How it felt, the smooth scales, the warm coils....

The brown fur retracted and his skin began to turn bumpy with smooth scales. For a heartbeat, he thought about mimicking Crowley's colors, but that would be taking this a step too far, even for him. The color flickered, briefly, before it settled into a beige and cream pattern. His arms and legs began to shrink and pull alongside his torso. As those appendages vanished, his torso began to narrow and elongate. Aziraphale was ecstatic that he was actually doing this, but after the aardvark mishap, he needed to keep focused until the transformation was complete. 

His sense of smell sharpened and Aziraphale briefly toyed with the idea of letting his eyes going snake as well, before he decided that it would be too hard to read if he decided to do so while in snake form. Once the transformation was complete, Aziraphale summoned a mirror from upstairs to verify that he managed to get it all done on the second attempt. He looked back at a 5 foot cream snake with beige bow tie like patterns along his body. His eyes were still blue and with dot pupils instead of the normal slitted ones he has seen on Crowley. It looked a little...odd....so he magicked the pupils into slits as well without losing his normal vision. 

"Now, letssss try thisss sunbeam out, shall we?" Aziraphale hissed then giggled. He loved hearing Crowley's hiss over the centuries, but he never thought he would see the day when he would hear his own voice in that same matter. 

Aziraphale lunged forward to move, smacking the bottom of his chin on the floor. He hissed in pain (giggle) and then looked back with betrayal at the coils behind him. Hmm...there has to be a trick to locomotion.... He laid his chin down on the floor and thought about how Crowley moves. Ah, yes, he slinks and slithers side to side. 

Aziraphale gave a little wiggle of excitement and to his surprise, he moved forward slightly. He focused on the feel of that wiggle, on Crowley's undulating hips as he walked and then tried to copy those movements again. With a lurch, he was able to move himself forward with his coils and pulled himself into the sun patch. The sun covered his scales and he hissed with contentment as he felt himself heat up from within. This was....amazing! It felt like basking in love and Aziraphale stretched his coils out and moved more fully into the sun patch. 

Why didn't Crowley spend more time in snake form? The feeling of contentment was on pare with the feeling of eating a truly well made dish....with reading a precious book...with spending time with the demon. 

Aziraphale moaned as he stretched out his full 5 feet and then just a bit more to feel the vertebrae in his back stretch and pop. A wave of lethargy swept over him and for the first time in more than 11 years, he contemplated taking a nap. He shrugged metaphysically (no actual shoulders to shrug in this form) - why not? They stopped Nope-aggedon, they had survived the punishments doled out by Heaven and Hell, he's managed to keep his feelings under check for Crowley for over 6,000 years..he has EARNED this nap. 

RING! RING!

"Ssshit!" 

Aziraphale briefly considered turning back into his human corporation and answering the phone, but if it was important (probably not), they can call back another day. The phone went quiet, then began ringing again. With a growl and and flick of his tail, the phone cord was yanked from the wall and the phone disappeared. Aziraphale hoped it ended up in his flat upstairs, but found it rather difficult to care at that moment. 

With a sign, he stretched back out and drifted to sleep in the sunbeam.


	2. Chapter 2

Aziraphale was lost in a world of warmth and pleasant dreams. 

Fantasies that, until Nope-ageddon, were downright dangerous to have lurking in darkest corners of his soul, much less rise up to the level of dreams. Golden eyes, no longer masked behind tinted glasses. Long flame hair, floating lightly in the breeze (even when indoors, because this was HIS dream, bless it!). A smirk, showing a pearly fang...a forked tongue, if his angle was just right. He let out a shudder and a sigh, but slept on.

Of course, there would be dining in the finest establishments, followed by long nights drinking and talking in the bookshop. Aziraphale frowned.....the bookshop was all him, but none of Crowley. Sure, the old couch that has seen multiple decades held Crowley's form within its cushions (it wouldn't dare to do otherwise) and multiple books and trinkets from over the years, but everything was a gift TO Aziraphale. Nothing stated that this was Crowley's as well....and that made Aziraphale sad. 

Dimly, the tinkling of the shop bells rang in his dreams, but Aziraphale paid it no mind. This was a true quandary! If they were on their own side now, they needed something that was BOTH of theirs....something to share that spoke of both of their natures. A blending of light and dark.....

Aziraphale was abruptly brought out of his dreams by the decidedly demonic smell of hellfire. Panicked, he reached out mentally for Crowley, only to find him within mere feet. He let out a mental sigh of relief, then a spark of mischief flared up inside of him. Why not?

"If you ssset any of my booksss on fire, there will be heaven to pay!" Aziraphale opened his eyes and lifted his head up to look at Crowley.

Crowley stood in the door of the bookshop, his hand raised, hellfire swirling about the digits. At Aziraphale's words, the hellfire went out and Crowley's jaw dropped.

"A..A..Angel?!?"

"Mmm?"

"You're a snake!"

Aziraphale raised himself up higher on his coils and made a production of looking down and behind himself at his serpentine body. 

"Posssibly?"

"But...but....why?" Crowley's glasses slid down to the tip of his nose, his golden eyes exposed.

"Well, I wasss curious about how it would feel to take on another form. You've done it ssso many timesss over the millennia and alwaysss ssso beautifully put together." Aziraphale pointedly ignored the choking sounds now coming from his demon's mouth. "You ssso rarely take on your sssnake form and I find that I misss it. It wasss the very first form I ever sssaw you in, back in the Garden. Even then, even with my fear of heaven, I couldn't take my eyesss off of you, in all of your ssscaled glory. I was ssso happy when you finally approached me on the wall."

Crowley sucked in a breath of air, but stayed silent. The only other response Aziraphale could see was the irises of Crowley's eyes, which were now blown wide.

"Can I tempt you into an afternoon nap...with me? In....in your sssnake form?" Aziraphale hissed out, but other than an audible swallow, Crowley stayed silent and perfectly still.

Time seemed to come to a standstill as Crowley and Aziraphale stared at one another. Aziraphale shifted uncomfortable; perhaps this wasn't one of his better ideas.

"Oh, for sssomeone's sssake! Crowley, blink if you understand me." 

BLINK.

"Never thought you liked to be reminded of my demon side." Crowley muttered under his breath and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"Oh, no! My darling boy; I've alwaysss loved any form you've chosssen to take!" Aziraphale managed to hiss out, then violently started. Oh shit....Aziraphale held his breath, hoping he hadn't just destroyed 6,000 years of friendship over a word spoken too soon. 

Crowley slowly raised his eyes from the floor and met Aziraphale's eyes. He licked his lips, then a small smile began to appear. Aziraphale slowly released his breath.

"So...what is this about a temptation? Angel, who have you been hanging out with?" Crowley drawled as he removed his sunglasses and set them down on a nearby bookshelf. 

"Well, funny you should asssk. I'm afraid I've had to "up my game" against the original Tempter. My wily adversary and all that." Aziraphale settled back down on his coils as he watched Crowley remove his jacket and hang it off of the back of the chair. 

Crowley came over to where Aziraphale was coiled up in the late afternoon sun and just stood, watching Aziraphale with a soft smile. The sun was beckoning Aziraphale back to a warm nap, but he couldn't go anywhere without his scaly fiend by his side. Aziraphale reared back on his coils and magicked himself a bit larger so he could look Crowley directly into his eyes. He magicked his eyes to shift into various colors and began to sway side to side. 

"Trussst in meeee, jussst in meeee....." Aziraphale began to sing.

Crowley tipped back his head and let out a peal of laughter.

"Since when did you watch a movie willingly?"

" I wasss curiousss about how clossse it was to the book. The sssnake reminded me a bit of you; I had jussst given you the holy water and I was ssso worried that....that...." Aziraphale sucked in a breath and then let it out in a shudder.

"Hey, hey! I'm alright! You know that was my insurance policy. I never intended to off myself. We're okay, yeah?" Crowley ran his hand gently down Aziraphale's coils, once, twice, three times. With each pass of Crowley's hand, Aziraphale felt the tension leave him. 

Crowley gave him a quick smile and then began to shift.....black clothes became black scales, gleaming in the afternoon light. His red shirt melted and blended into his red underbelly, but the golden eyes stayed the same. 

"It'sss been a bit, yeah?" Crowley stretched and undulated as the rest of his human corporation melted into thick coils. 

Aziraphale flicked out a forked tongue and tasted the air. The air practically hummed with the scent of Crowley. He flicked his tongue out for another taste and was barely able to contain the moan. The flavor was better than anything he has ever dined upon.

"So, you had invited me to a nap?" Crowley slinked closer to Aziraphale and coiled in front of him, waiting.

"Well, yessss." Aziraphale stretched out on the floor in the slowly vanishing sunspot. With a sign, he raised his head up and looked at Crowley.

"I guesss we don't get to nap together for very long today. That lovely heat is disssappearing too fasst to enjoy properly" Aziraphale said sadly.

"Well, that'sss why sssnakes coil together. To share the heat... Would you....ummm...." Crowley stuttered to a halt. 

Aziraphale let out a tiny hiss of laughter, then began to coil himself around Crowley. Crowley jolted then began to coil himself around Aziraphale until they were a scaled mass of white and black. Crowley let out a sigh and Aziraphale hummed with contentment. 

"Goodnight Angel"

"Goodnight my dear"

*****

from a distance, Someone looked down and behold, saw it was very Good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking about doing a part 2 since I posted the first one....the title, after all, implies multiple snakes and whom am I to endorse false advertising? Anyways, I really tried to write it from Crowely's POV, but as much as I adore Crowley, I just couldn't get his internal voice right. Crowely is my favorite out of the duo, but I can write Aziraphale much easier....I guess I'm a bit of an Aziraphale in RL. I hope you enjoyed this little snap shot of our favorite snakes.


End file.
